{"id":2526,"date":"2011-04-19T22:22:08","date_gmt":"2011-04-19T21:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2526"},"modified":"2011-05-04T14:46:24","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T13:46:24","slug":"trouble-with-mobile-telcos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2011\/04\/trouble-with-mobile-telcos.htm","title":{"rendered":"Trouble with (mobile) telcos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wanted to start this post by asking “How can you tell if a mobile phone salesman is lying? Because his lips move!” but I’m slightly concerned that might be slanderous, or libellous, or something – so let me just say that I’m talking about a hypothetical salesman and it was intended as a joke, so don’t sue me. OK?<\/p>\n

As for what caused me to say that – well, given the trouble I’m having with not one but three of the UK’s five mobile network operators, I think I’m entitled to a slightly jaundiced view of the “services” that they provide.<\/p>\n

O2<\/h3>\n

When I bought my iPad last year, I signed up for a monthly rolling data contract with O2<\/a>. One of the reasons for selecting O2 was that the tariff included access to BT Openzone<\/a> Wi-Fi hotspots. Except it’s not that simple as the BT Openzone SSID is used for three products: BT Openzone; BT Business Hubs and BT Fon. At first, I couldn’t get my iPad to work on any BT Openzone hotspot but, even since that was fixed by a support call to O2, I’ve found that many “BT Openzone” hotspots still require payment. Without the benefit of bundled Wi-Fi, I considered switching networks but had built up around 5GB in unused data that was rolling forward each month.<\/p>\n

Until today.<\/p>\n

I received an email from O2 advising me that payment for my 30-day rolling contract had been declined. Realising that I had been issued a new debit card recently, I updated the payment details but I still couldn’t make a payment. I phoned my bank and they assured me there was no problem their end, so I called O2. As friendly as the call centre staff were, they were unable to help me because, by then,\u00c2\u00a0my account was frozen for 24 hours. In a few hours time it would be cancelled, before the 24 hour window expires and with it goes my 5GB of unused data.<\/p>\n

So long O2 – if this is how you repay me, I’m off to another network.<\/p>\n

Three<\/h3>\n

I don’t know what Orange\/T-Mobile’s data coverage is like but voice coverage where I live is terrible. Meanwhile, my Twitter followers have been extolling the virtues of Three<\/a> to me, so I thought I’d save myself \u00c2\u00a32.50 a month and give them a try. On the way home, I dropped into a Three store and bought a 3G micro-SIM for my iPad. The guy who served me in the London Baker Street store could barely string two words together as he grunted at me (presumably he doesn’t make any commission on SIM-only sales) but he was clear about two things:<\/p>\n